Better change your ways, magistrate tells 'out of control' youth

An "out of control" 18-year-old, the son of a convicted criminal, was yesterday reprimanded by a magistrate and told to change his attitude or risk ending up in prison.

The stern warning was made by Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona to Mario Camilleri who was charged with committing a crime while on bail, driving a car without insurance cover and licence and threatening the police officers who had stopped him.

Mr Camilleri's father, also called Mario and nicknamed L-Imnieħru, was jailed for four years in 2008 in connection with the bribery of former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and former Judge Patrick Vella.

The accused was driving a Mercedes Benz bearing the number plate Ta' Mario when he had the run-in with the police last Sunday. The car is not registered in his name, the court was told.

He is pleading not guilty to the charges.

His defence counsel, Joe Brincat, argued that the charges did not quite make sense because for his client to be found guilty of committing a crime while out on bail he would first have had to be convicted of committing the crime itself. As it stood, he was charged with both offences at the same time, which also undermined the presumption of innocence.

Rebutting the argument, Police Inspector Malcolm Bondin said he wanted to produce the two police officers threatened by the accused to prove the charges. The magistrate noted that this was merely an arraignment and no witnesses would be heard.

Arguing against the granting of bail, Inspector Bondin said the accused had already been handed down a conditional discharge, was on probation and had another pending court case. The teenager was "out of control", he said.

Dr Brincat asked that the court, in case it granted bail, would not order that a deposit be made because his client was only 18 years old and had no financial means.

Smiling, the magistrate re-marked that one should take account of the type of car the young man was driving.

The defence counsel replied that even he could go to court in a more expensive vehicle than a Mercedes Benz, for example a route bus, which definitely cost more than the car.

Furthermore, his client's moth-er's business had collapsed due to a "campaign" against the family following his father's imprisonment, leaving them living on the bread line.

The court granted the accused bail against a personal guarantee of €5,000 but did not set a deposit. The magistrate told Mr Camilleri he had better change his attitude, otherwise he would end up in prison.